Irving Police Chief Jeff Spivey did not witness Tuesday's execution of Joseph Garcia but visited the Huntsville prison as the lethal injection was administered.

Three times, Irving Police Chief Jeff Spivey has traveled to Huntsville for an execution as a way to honor an officer killed nearly 18 years ago by a group of prison escapees.

On Tuesday, he was there again as Joseph Garcia, a member of the Texas Seven, was put to death for the slaying of Officer Aubrey Hawkins.

Officer Aubrey Hawkins (File Photo)

Spivey did not witness the execution but was on site, representing the department, as the lethal injection was administered.

Garcia is the fourth of the Texas Seven to be executed.

But for Spivey and others close to the case, they are no nearer to closure, he said.

"Every time you start to think you have closure, one of these things comes up," he said. "Eighteen years is a long time for Aubrey's family to wait for justice and have to relive this. Eighteen years is a long time for our police department."

Spivey plans to represent his department at the executions of the two other men on death row for their roles in Hawkins' death.

"I think there are certain people in this world where the only way to protect society from them is to give them the ultimate punishment," Spivey said. "There was no way to protect society from these seven guys who were all serving at least 30-year sentences in a maximum-security prison. They were still able to escape and do harm to our society, including killing a police officer. What do we do with that evil?"

Sgt. Jeff Spivey, who is now chief of the Irving Police Department, pointed to Texas Seven suspect George Rivas during a pretrial hearing in 2011.(File Photo / Staff)

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Spivey, a sergeant at the time, was a detective who investigated the Dec. 24, 2000, shooting. Though he didn't know Hawkins well, working the murder case of a fellow officer "added a complexity to it that I wasn't prepared for," he said.

"You always want to do your best for the victim's family, you want to ensure you catch the right guy or gal and have a good outcome for the family," he said. "When the victim's family are all people you know and you know the victim, it changes the dynamic."

On Dec. 13, 2000, the Texas Seven overpowered workers at a South Texas prison about 60 miles south of San Antonio and fled in a stolen prison truck. On Christmas Eve, they robbed an Irving sporting-goods store and escaped with 44 weapons and more than $70,000.

Hawkins, 29, had just finished dinner with his family at Olive Garden when he responded to the suspicious-activity call. The convicts shot Hawkins before he could get out of his squad car.

Though officials can't prove who fired the 11 shots, there were five firearms at the scene and the lookout didn't shoot. According to testimony from co-defendants, Garcia at the very least pulled Hawkins' body out of the car, which was blocking the escape vehicle, he said.

Six of the men were arrested the following month in Colorado. One killed himself to avoid capture.

Six members of the Texas Seven were sentenced to death in the Dec. 24, 2000, shooting of Irving police Officer Aubrey Hawkins. From top left, Joseph Garcia, Donald Newbury, George Rivas, Larry Harper. From bottom left, Patrick Murphy, Randy Halprin and Michael Rodriguez.(Texas Department of Criminal Justice)

Those who were close to Hawkins remember him as "just a genuinely nice guy," Spivey said. The father of a 9-year-old son had worked in smaller jurisdictions and joined the Irving Police Department in October 1999.

"You're always reminded Christmas Eve that this occurred. … The fact that it was a call that any police officer has been on hundreds of times in their career … you assume there's nothing [to it]."

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That weighs on Spivey, who has worked at the department for more than 30 years and was named chief in March 2017.

"Police officers continue to answer calls without really knowing what they're responding to," he said. "You feel responsible for the men and women under your care, at any time they could be answering a seemingly innocuous call."

Spivey hopes that the deaths of those killed in the line of duty like Hawkins aren't overlooked, regardless of how much time has passed.

"I think our communities lose sight of how difficult" officers' job is, Spivey said. "When one of them pays the ultimate price, I don't want that to be forgotten."

Claire Cardona, Breaking News Producer. Claire joined The Dallas Morning News as an intern in 2012. She now writes about crime, other breaking news and the Dallas Zoo. She grew up in New Orleans and graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Texas at Austin.